Cal Murphy, one of the most influential figures in the history of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and the Canadian Football League, has died at the age of 79.

TSN reported the former head coach and general manager of the Bombers, a member of the club's hall of fame and the Canadian Football Hall of Fame, died on Saturday.

Born in Winnipeg in 1932, Murphy's family moved to Vancouver where he starred at Vancouver College and the University of British Columbia and later turned to coaching football -- a profession that would dominate his adult life. Murphy began his long association with the CFL in 1974 under the legendary Eagle Keys with the B.C. Lions, and six games into 1975 was named head coach. Fired after the 1976 season, Murphy then joined the Montreal Alouettes as an assistant under Marv Levy in 1977 before moving on to the Edmonton Eskimos, where he was part of that franchise's dynasty of 1978-82.

In 1983 then Bombers GM Paul Robson hired Murphy as Winnipeg's head coach and in his first year at the helm he guided the club to an 11-7 record and was named the CFL's Coach of the Year. One season later Murphy and the Bombers were Grey Cup champs, as Winnipeg trounced Hamilton in the Grey Cup to end a 22-year championship drought. He was named the CFL's coach of the year for a second straight season.

It was the beginning of a dominant run for Murphy and the Bombers as the would win three titles from 1984-90, the first with 'Kindly Cal' as the coach the last two with him serving as general manager and Mike Riley on the sidelines.

Murphy would also play a critical role in Winnipeg's landing the 1991 Grey Cup game and the model used for that championship game was soon adopted by the league as a blueprint.

In 1992 Murphy was to return to the sidelines as coach when he suffered a heart attack and needed emergency bypass surgery that kept him alive before a last-second donor became available. Even in recovery at University Hospital in London, Ont., Murphy would be in constant contact with interim head coach Urban Bowman and assistant GM Lyle Bauer, often calling with game plan advice.

He did return to coach the Bombers again and in 1993 helped guide the team to the Grey Cup before losing to the Edmonton Eskimos. Murphy would serve as head coach and GM until the end of the 1996 season, when he was replaced by Jeff Reinebold.

But his time in the CFL did not end there as he moved on to the Saskatchewan Roughriders, serving as offensive coordinator and then head coach and later worked with the Chicago Enforcers of the XFL and Frankfurt Galaxy of NFL Europe. He had been serving as a scout for the Indianapolis Colts prior to his passing.

Murphy and his wife Joyce had seven children and had been living in Regina.

He was inducted into the Bomber hall of fame in 2002, the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 2004 after winning nine Grey Cups; one with Montreal, five with Edmonton and three with the Winnipeg.

-- staff

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition February 19, 2012 B6